PRAGUE (AP) – Czech farmers drove tractors and other vehicles to several border crossings Thursday to meet with colleagues from neighboring countries and discuss European Union agricultural policy, bureaucracy and themselves. had joined forces to protest against the overall conditions of business.
Farmers say the 27-member EU’s environmental policies, such as the Green Deal, which calls for limits on chemical use and greenhouse gas emissions, are restricting farmers’ operations and making their produce more expensive than imports from outside the EU. I feel dissatisfied with the situation.
Farmers are also complaining about low prices for their produce, saying it is hurting the market for grains and other agricultural products from Ukraine and Latin America.
Farmers met colleagues from neighboring Germany, Poland and Slovakia at many border crossings. Organizers said farmers from 10 EU countries, from central Europe to the Baltics and the Balkans, were taking part in the protests.
The farmers invited Czech Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny, Slovak Agriculture Minister Richard Takacs, and representatives of Polish and Hungarian farmers to cross the Czech-Slovak border, known as Hodonin Holic, which was blocked off with hundreds of tractors. He called on people to gather at checkpoints.
“We are not protesting against the EU, but against the wrong decisions of the European Commission,” said Andrej Gajdos of the Slovak Chamber of Agriculture and Food.
CHOTEBUZ, CZECH REPUBLIC – FEBRUARY 22: Czech and Polish farmers with tractors protesting against EU agricultural policy at the Czech-Polish border crossing of Chotebuz Bogšovice in Chotebuz, Czech Republic, February 22, 2024. Tachi. The protest was organized by the Chamber of Commerce. The coalition of farmers and farmers’ unions is part of a Europe-wide campaign by disaffected farmers against EU policies. Farmers are particularly concerned about the terms of the Green Deal, taking issue with duty-free imports of agricultural products from abroad, particularly from Ukraine and Latin America. Major agricultural organizations distanced themselves from Monday’s action in Prague. (Photo by Lukas Kabon/Anadolu, Getty Images)
CHOTEBUZ, CZECH REPUBLIC – FEBRUARY 22: Czech and Polish farmers with tractors protesting against EU agricultural policy at the Czech-Polish border crossing of Chotebuz Bogšovice in Chotebuz, Czech Republic, February 22, 2024. Tachi. The protest was organized by the Chamber of Commerce. The coalition of farmers and farmers’ unions is part of a Europe-wide campaign by disaffected farmers against EU policies. Farmers are particularly concerned about the terms of the Green Deal, taking issue with duty-free imports of agricultural products from abroad, particularly from Ukraine and Latin America. Major agricultural organizations distanced themselves from Monday’s action in Prague. (Photo by Lukas Kabon/Anadolu, Getty Images)
